Save the date

Saturday, March 15th we will be having a swap meet in the cultural hall. Start your spring cleaning and gather up all of your clothes, toys, dishes, etc that you have no use for anymore! There will be more details on this later.

Here We Go A Canning!

We had a really good turn out on Saturday morning for the ward canning activity. For many it was the first time at the cannery. As soon as we got there, we just jumped right in and started canning away. It went surprisingly well for how many people there were. Everyone made themselves busy and worked together. Even the kids were working away. It was a really good time and we ended up canning quite a bit. In fact, we canned more than we needed, but that was helpful for the people who were coming in after us. We did most of the work for them. I took a bunch of pictures that turned out really great, but I was unaware that you're not allowed to take pictures inside the cannery. It's a liability thing. So I have a few from the morning of us packing up all the goods. It was nice to see so many different families represented. Teri mentioned that we will still do a canning activity where we check out the machines and bring them here for those of you who have your own stuff you need to can, so hang on and hopefully that will happen soon. Here are some pictures.

Valentine Party

Thanks to the activities committee for a fun event. The place looked good, the food was good, and the dancing was entertaining to say the least. Brother Bohan did such a good job of teaching, even Ryan and I could follow. I'm excited to have learned a waltz. That was fun. Unfortunately, we didn't get to dance that long (I don't think Ryan was all that disappointed), but it was fun nonetheless. It was fun to see ward members in a different atmosphere. I particularly enjoyed watching Brother Bell dance. Who new he was such a goofball. I also didn't realize that many of our ward members already possessed such magnificent dancing skills. Thanks everybody for showing up and having a good time. Here are some pictures from the event.

Babysitting Exchange

I've seen a sign up go around for this, but I'd like to see if anyone would like to exchange a specific day/time.

We hired a babysitter yesterday afternoon and realized we definitely cannot afford that on a regular basis! Teenage help is not cheap! So we were wondering if there is anyone out there who would like to exchange babysitting on Saturday afternoons (or mornings or evenings if they are better for you). We would like to go out from like 2 or 3 in the afternoon till 5 or 6 in the evening. This way it doesn't involve naps, baths, bed or dinner (maybe just a snack). We've been exchanging babysitting with the Gunns at night, but we would really like to get away from our kids when they are actually awake and when it's early enough to go out to eat or see a movie or even go to the temple.
We'd want to exchange once or twice a month. Which means that either we both go out once a month or we each go out every other month. I don't know what other peoples' Saturdays are usually like, but for me Roy usually works all day, so having a couple of extra kids over to play would be no big deal.

We will be moving in June or July, so this would be a short term thing. And if you decide it's not working out, we can stop at anytime. Anyone interested? If not, no problem, we'll hire some bum off the street to save money ;)

Children at the Cannery

I just got off the phone with a lady at the cannery and she said that it is okay for children to be at the cannery doing the dry pack as long as they are old enough to help. There's no official age limit or rule, but use your judgment. She said a two or three year old would not be a good idea. I went to the Stockton cannery over Christmas break and my four year old nephew was a fantastic helper and loved the experience. I asked about infants in a carrier or something, and she said it gets pretty dusty (if you're canning milk or flour), so you probably won't want to subject your child to that. However, there is no hard and fast rule. It's up to you. I brought my baby to the Stockton cannery and he was fine for quite a while in his carrier while we canned macaroni, beans, carrots, etc. When it got to the dusty stuff, one of us took him out of the room. Anyway, we have a backpack that I think we may stick him in for a while, and when and if it's not working out, one of us will just take him outside for a walk or something. Just thought I'd let you all know, since it's never really been clarified. It is a pretty small room though, and I don't know how many adults will be there. However, it is a great opportunity to teach young kids about the cannery and the value of food storage. It's also really fun for them.

Menu Planning Enrichment

We're going to be doing an enrichment on menu planning. There will be a few people demonstrating how they plan and we will hand out a few sample calendars. We encourage everyone to bring a list of meals that you currently make (or want to be making!) to bring that night since part of the evening will be for you to fill out your own blank calendar. If you don't have a list still come - you can make one there off the top of your head or you can work with the sample calendars. Hope to see everyone there! If you have questions or have something you want us to discuss that night leave a comment here!

NPR Testimony

Okay, I bore my testimony on Sunday about President Hinckley and cited a radio talk show I'd heard on NPR. I hope I didn't mislead anyone, but the guy talking about President Hinckley was a reporter who covers the church for NPR. I don't think he's Mormon. I think he's fairly well informed, but when it came to the revelation thing, I was confused with what he was saying. He did confirm that the prophet "hears the voice of the Lord", but went on to elaborate and lost me. Anyway, here's the link to the article. If you click on the little speaker above President Hinckley's picture you can actually hear the piece. It's about 12 minutes long. There's a bunch of comments on the article as well. It's pretty awesome to see people getting proactive in talking about the church.

Also, it was also on NPR today that Thomas S. Monson will succeed President Hinckley. I find it fascinating that this stuff is on PUBLIC radio and not just church news. That's so exciting.

If you haven't noticed, I like listening to NPR. It's pretty interesting.

Oh yeah, sisters, if you could "label" your post, they will automatically be cataloged. I think that will become a useful feature. There's a little box at the bottom right hand corner of the box that you're posting in. It takes a couple more seconds to label the blog.

All geared up!

I just got home from our long weekend in southern California and I was so excited to read the email about "Feel Good in 2008". I ate horribly while on vacation, and didn't do anything mentally or spiritually stimulating, so this program will really help me get back on track. I've made a lot of food choice changes this year, and it's amazing how much better the foods on the "good food list" will make you feel! I'm also excited to do some of the weekly challenges - especially "Sleep 8 hours tonight" - I'll get to tell Roy that it's for Relief Society and he needs to get up with the kids! :)

GO TEAM PURPLE!!

Cooking Club

We are moving next weeks cooking club from Dawn Cheney's house to Sarah Ahlstrom's. Still at 7:30PM this Thursday, Feb 7. Our topic is Mexican food...and we're hoping for a good selection of salsa's to go with it! Hope to see you there!